T.S. Eliot.
As we bid farewell to our newfound friends in Portland we journeyed on toward Astoria, home of the Goonies and the start of our coastal drive. At the peninsula of Fort Stevens we had our first encounter with the rough and rugged coastline of Oregon, excitedly spotting seals and a hungry raccoon. Our countryside jaunts led us to experience a true 'deer caught in the headlights' moment as we swerved high speed to narrowly avoid hitting two rogue deer in our path - rest assured all parties, deer, car and ourselves, remained unscathed, although a little shaken. Praise The Lord for Traction control.
After resting our heads in a cheap motel and gorging on steak and baby back ribs in Pig N Pancake, est. 1961 in Seaside Town and offering a massive 35 different types of breakfast,we were ready to commence the next leg of our highway 101 road trip. On that first day we saw rocky Cannon Beach, idyllic and quaint Manzinita and experienced the saddest most sterile tour around the Tillamook cheese factory, although we didn't turn our nose up at the free cheese samples, especially the squeaky curd... Filthy.
We welcomed refreshment at the Pelican Brewhouse in Pacific city where the bartender concocted us a ginger beer : coke, lemonade and angastora bitters which helped to wash down Steve 'the Oyster Mans' locally farmed catch which we had slurped, slimy and raw, in his front yard.
We raced the through Lincoln city to our destination in Newport - Econolodge.
Sagely advice was offered from our Hawaiian friend in the pizza restaurant pver dinner, which went a little something like this 'you girls be careful, you gotta watch each others back, when you get out of the car you gotta look at everyones face and say hey you, you and you I'm lookin' at you, I see you.'
He gave us a free T-shirt and we left carrying a hefty dose of paranoia.
The second day of our road trip took us to Seal Rock, here we observed three wild seals swimming in tide pools, temporarily isolated by the receding tide. We found this fascinating until we discovered just a couple of miles down the road we could spend a few bucks to see 250 seals in their natural habitat, rolling around and stinking the place to the ground. With every incoming wave we were hit with the stench of rotting fish. It was an absolutely phenomenal sight nonetheless. Dune city offered us the opportunity to see enormous sand dunes that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Loathe to stay in another generic motel we opted to go with Air B&B at Myrtle Point Farm.
Being miles from the nearest civilisation we were naturally rather apprehensive, however we were greeted with a warm welcome from Leena and David who gave us dinner from their home grown produce and wine which they'd brewed themselves. We stayed up late chatting and the following day helped around the farm weeding in preparation for the spring bloom. We saw lovely lamas and two heavily pregnant goats who gave birth not long after we'd left.
With grubby nails and a stash of farm pickles we drove determinedly to our next destination; Eureka. It could be said that this part of the journey was the HIGHWAY TO HELL, as ACDC so excellently put it. It was dark and cold, we were desperate for a place to stay and our budget was tight; then we stumbled upon Christies, which should be more aptly known as Christies Crack Den. The following morning as we were about to leave we were accosted by a couple of Federal Bounty Hunters who presented us with a picture and asked if we had seen 'this woman' overnight who was wanted for serious drug offences and robbery. Needless to say we bolted, unfortunately this happened to be the wrong way down a one way street.
Our final day on the road was one of much driving as we covered the best part of 300 miles from Eureka to San Francisco on tortuous winding roads. Driving over the illuminated Golden Gate Bridge was a warm welcome to the city and we happily rested our weary heads at Jimmys Hostel in the marina district.
Special thanks to Ross one of our last hosts, his great tunes provided us with such lyrical genius as the Beatles, Seasick Steve, Sigur Ros, Jeff Buckley and Atmosphere all the way down the coast.
A journey to remember.
Peace and Love,
Jan and Sooz.
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